babbitt



B. T. BABBITT. AIR GQNDENSING ENGINE.

No. 79,938. Patented July 14, 1868.

B. T. BABBITT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 79,938, dated July 14, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN GAS-EXPLOSIVE-ENGINES roe GONDENSING AIR.

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7 TO ALL WHOM IT'MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, B. T. BAKBITT, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented a-new and useful Improvement in Motors orPower-Generating Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being ha l to the accompanying drawing,which forms part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 representsa plan of an apparatus in part illustrating'my invention,

Figure 2 a vertical longitudinal section of the same, and r Figure 3 anedge view or section, on an enlarged scale, of one ofthepowder-magazinesin part, with insulated wires or conductors forfiring the charge to operate the motor where loose-powder charges areused for the purpose, and electricity employed to fire them.

, Similar'letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My invention consists in a novel method or. process of generating powerby compressing air within asuitable reservoir or reservoirs, through theaction of a free or unrestrainedand independent piston, that is a pistonwhich is loose or detached from any outside driving-mechanism, and thatis worked within a cylinder, by being shot alternately in oppositedirections, through a powerful gaseous explosion or temporary powerful.expansive force applied to start said piston, which, by its weight andmomentum, is caused to continue the direction given it by thestarting-force, and to compress air received through a suitable valvularopening or openings in its cylinder, into a power-accumulating reservoiror reservoirs, that may serve to work an engine, or that may beapplied-to various other useful purposes. 7 i i I 1 By this, myimprovement, a loose or independent piston acting as a weightyprojectile, is used to effect the compression, thus avoiding outsidecutting'of parts, and dispensing with much complication of details,besides possessingother advantages over previous methods of generatingpower by the compression oi'air.

And my inventio n further consists, in combination with such anapparatus or other'motor acting upon the principle of gaseous explosionorignition of explosive material, such as gunpowder, to operate a pistonwithin a closed cylindcr'or tube, in a revolving many-chambered magazineat either end of said cylinder, acting in concert with a battery forignition of the charges successively andalternately, by electricity, atopposite ends of the cylinder. i 7

Referring to theaccompanying drawing, A represents a cylinder or tube,of any suitable diameter, and considerable length, closed at either end,and of any requisite strength. This cylinder or tube is connected at ornear either end, through orifices a at, having valves 6 b covering them,and which ope n outwards, by pipes B B, with a reservoir, 0, for theretcntionof air compressed into it from the cylindcrA, that is furtherprovided with air-receiving inlets D D, fitted with valves 0 c, openinginwards to counteract the formation of' a. vacuum in thecylindcr A,"and'to keep it supplied with air for a repetition of thecompressing-process.

The air is compressed'in the ylinder A, and delivered or forced ateither end alternately through the pipes 13 B, into the reservoir C, bya loose, or, so far as outside devices are concerned, disconnectedpiston, of considerable weight and length, and which is designcdby itsmomentum 'to act as a projectile to efl'ec t the necessary atmosphericcompression, and is set in motion, alternately from opposite ends of thecylinder by any suitable sudden gaseous or other explosion, or expansionof gas or vapor under heavy pressure, operating to start the piston,such as, for instance, steam of a very high pressure let in by ajet orpufi, solid-or condensed carbonic-acid ga s used in small or detachedquantities, or it may be by an explosion of gunpowder. This lattermaterial will here be selected byway of illustrating more clearly theinvention, and under a modification or principle of action which it willbe found advantageous to adopt. Thus outside the ends of the cylinder,and working in close contact therewith on their peripheries, arerevolvingpowder-magazines or cylinders F ]3,-set, say, on horizontalshafts, and made'up of cups or chambers g, that, as the magazinesrevolve, are brought succcssively under a suitablc 'supply vesscl, H,and when fillcdwith powder therefrom, are, by the further rotationoflsaid magazines, brought in line withapertures h k in the ends of theworking-cylinder A, and the powder in them there exploded to give therequired impetus to the piston E-. The explosion of course only takesplace 1 whenthe piston having reached the one end of its stroke, is inclose proximity to the exploding-chamber, consequently the rotary motionof the magazines F F requires to be intermittent, and to" be so timed asthat a charged chamber is alternately presented to the openings throughthe opposite ends of the cylinde' 'Af To effect this, the piston E, asit reaches or approaches the ends of its stroke, is made to strike andforce outwards alternately rods I I, which carry spring or other 'pawls112', that bite in or on ratchet-wheels Z Z, secured to the ends orffl-CGSOf the magazines, and so give the requisite and timely motion" tothe latter, to secure their filling and presentation of charged chambersto the orifices'in the ends of the cylinder A, springs in in actingagainst projections from the rods I I to afterwards returnthe latterrods to their original positions for a repetition of the like action onthem bythe piston E, and other pawls, n n, serving to prevent backmotion to the magazines. To obviate back-fire, that is, the explosionof'the charge communicating fire to the succeeding chamber or chambersinthe magazine, damp sponges may be placed, asat r, to rest upon theperipheries of the magazines.

To fire the charges as the chambers g are brought insucc'ession oppositethe apertures h h, the intermittently revolving magazines F are providedwith conductors or wires 8 projecting from their sides, andcommunicating with the chambers g, and that as the magazines arerevolved, and said chambers come in line with the apertures I ILJLsuccessively, and alternately at opposite ends of the cylinder A, passclose to or touch wires u a, connected with a battery or batterics, K,which fires the charge by the electric current transmitted therefrom,the wires .8 projecting into the powder in the chambers g, andestablishing the negative connection with the battery, while otherwires, 8, pass from the powder in the chambers g in close proximity totheinner ends of the wires s, and are extended to touch the metal of themagazines F on the outside, for the purpose of establishing connectionwith the positive pole of the battery, both wires, 8 55', being suitablyinsulated in their passage through the magazine from the chambersg, Thisarrangement for producing a spark is inore clearly exhibited in fig. 3.Any other suitable arrangement, however, may be adopted, but the onehere described is close and automatic, the magazines beingalsoautomatically operated by the independent piston E.

Instead of loose-powder'charges, however, or magazines fired byelectricity, cartridgesrignited by percussion may be iised to giveimpetus by explosion to the piston, the sizes of the cartridges beingvaried to suitthe different amounts of powder required.

While the piston E'is operated freely or independently of any outsideconnections,and, or at least largely so, by the momentum due to itsweight and impetus received at the start to urge it successively inopposite directions, it has its motion gradually retarded at the extremeend of either stroke, and is prevented from butting against the ends ofthe cylinder by compressionof the air in front of it so as to form acushion; the escape-openings a a for the compressed air being arrangedat a certain distance inside, or short of the ends of the cylinder forthe purpose. v 7

By a piston thus operating freely or independently of outsideconnections, the objection which has hereto fore been raised to thecutting of and sudden strain or jerk on the working parts, by an abruptand powerful starting-force, is obviated, and an engine or motor may beconnected with or draw its supply of compressed air from the reservoir Cwith as great ease and regularity as steam issupplied from an ordinaryboiler, or such compressed air be used in any other desired way, and forvarious purposes. In some cases or forsome purposes, the air, ascompressed, may be passed off direct without being stored in areservoir..- Iii-speaking of'the piston E as generating power by thecompression of air, of course'the term air is designed to includenotlonly atmospheric but also other air or gas, by suitably connectingthe inlets D D with appropriate supply-chambers or tanks.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is v,

1. A motor or power-generator, operating to compress or force air or gasby the reciprocating action, in an automatic manner, of a weighty andindependent piston or projectile, free from constant connection withoutside working parts, the same being started or set in motion by anysuitable explosive force or expansion of gas or vapor under heavypressure, within a tube or cylinder provided with suitable openings forproducing the necessary explosion or startingim petus to the piston, andfor reception and discharge of the fluid which it serves to compress,substantially as specified.

2.- The combinationof intermittently-revolving or otherequivalently-operating many-chambered magazines at opposite ends of thetube or cylinder A, suitable powderfeeding vessels or chambers thereto,and wir'es'or conductors s s, for operation' in connection with thewire'or wires from a battery, to explode the charges at opposite ends ofthe 'cylinder alternately, essentially as and for the purppse orpurposes herein set forth.

3.. The combination, with the loose or independent piston E, operatingas described, of rods I I, or their equivalents, and suitable mechanismfor giving in an automatic manner, or by the action of said pistomthenecessary impetus to the latter at starting, by gaseous expansion orexplosion, substantially as specified.

' B. T. BABBITT.

' Witnesses:.

J. W. Cooiuns,

A. Ln Onnnc.

